Share “Pentagon: Benghazi suspect in US custody”

Pentagon: Benghazi suspect in US custody

By JULIE PACE •
Published: June 17, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Libyan militant suspected in the deadly attack on Americans in Benghazi has been captured and is in American custody, the Pentagon said Tuesday, marking the first time the U.S. has apprehended one of the alleged perpetrators.

FILE - This Sept. 13, 2012 file photo shows a man walking in the rubble of the damaged U.S. consulate, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens on the night of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya. To congressional Republicans, “Benghazi” is shorthand for incompetence and cover-up. Democrats hear it is as the hollow sound of pointless investigations. (AP photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)

Officials said Ahmed Abu Khattala, a senior leader of the Benghazi branch of the terror group Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, will be tried in U.S. court. He is currently being held in an undisclosed location.

Last year, the U.S. filed charges against Khattala and a number of others in a sealed complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. However, until now, no one had been arrested in the September 2012 attack in which a group of militants set fire to the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, killing Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

The Obama administration has come under intense criticism from Republicans for being unable to apprehend those responsible for the attack.

The Pentagon said the U.S. military, in cooperation with law enforcement personnel, captured Khattala on Sunday. Officials said there were no civilian casualties related to the operation and all of the Americans involved have safely departed Libya.